More accurate GPS helps EVs and AVs

Improved GPS technology announced on June 23 will aid electric vehicles (EVs) and autonomous vehicles (AVs).

“Budget 2019 set aside nearly $2m ($1.99) for Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) to work with its Australian counterpart, Geoscience Australia, to investigate ways to deliver a regional Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS) to significantly improve GPS accuracy,” land Information minister Eugenie Sage says.

The Budget 2019 funding for SBAS will drive innovation in a range of emerging technologies, she adds.

While the launch focus was on enabling faster and safer helicopter rescues, allowing them to reach patients quicker in challenging locations, the technology will also improve the safety of self-driving cars in the future, where precise positioning information will allow safer navigation and help avoid collisions, Sage says.

GPS usually provides positioning information accurate to about 5-10 metres, but the new system will improve accuracy to less than a metre, and in some devices to 10cm.

The funding will allow LINZ and Geoscience Australia to jointly develop specifications and undertake initial procurement processes. Once a preferred provider for delivering SBAS has been identified, approval to release further funding will be sought to implement a regional SBAS.

It’s expected the procurement process will be in 2020 with a regional SBAS service likely to be operational by mid-2023.

The announcement is welcomed by McMullen & Wing which is developing electric fast ferries.

These new, more accurate GPS technologies will be enablers of some step-changes in ship and boat navigation and it is very valuable for New Zealand to be in a position to stay up with these developments, McMullen & Wing chief executive officer Michael Eaglen says.

He says the e-ferries will already incorporate a very precise intuitive control system for safer, more efficient close-quarters manoeuvring.

“This is transformative technology in itself, but the true power will come when we can combine that with the accuracy of technologies like SBAS to deliver enhancements like augmented docking and even autonomy.”

SBAS, especially when combined with 5G, will also help AV development in New Zealand.

Other SBAS applications include enabling aircraft to fly in difficult weather (fog), virtual fencing (such as for electric scooter restricted areas and livestock wearing GPS collars) and workplace health and safety.

When fully implemented it is expected this technology will result in $1.47 billion worth of economic benefits to the New Zealand economy.

The procurement process will start in 2020 with a regional SBAS service expected to be running within four years.